The purpose of this post is to make Rhac keepers aware of an unusual problem that affects Crested Geckos. I had read on this forum just a few days ago, a telltale story that parallels what I experienced. That person lost his male Crested for “unknown” reasons. While we’ll never know if what happened to his gecko is related, there is certainly a high degree of probability that it may be based on his description.

Early this fall I received 4 Crested Geckos from a breeder/dealer. Outwardly all 4 appeared healthy (with one being considerably larger than the other three). But as with all new animals, these 4 were placed in quarantine containers. Initially they all fed and behaved normally. After approximately 2 weeks, the larger one appeared to have lost weight. Certainly not something that triggered any alarms for a newly arrived animal, perhaps just a stress related anomaly. Well, I got rather busy over the following 2 weeks and hadn’t remembered to pay any particular attention to the large one. So when I did take a special look, I was startled at what I saw. The Crested had gone from robust to emaciated within a span of 3-4 weeks. At that time he was obviously near death, and by the next morning he was in fact dead. The 3 other geckos that came from the same source were still doing fine and continuing to gain weight.

That afternoon I was determined to find out what had happened to this animal. So I performed a comprehensive necropsy. I’ve spoken with several Rhac breeders and after they shared their stores with me, I shared mine with them. Now I’m sharing this with you in the hopes that you can identify potential trouble early and save the ailing gecko. Here’s the results:

This is the Crested as it appeared on the morning it passed. In this image you can see a very thin gecko with a bloody and congested intestine. As well as what appears to be 30% of its liver in a state of necrosis (later confirmed on histological exam of the tissue).



Here you can see a focal area of ulceration, a product of ulcerative colitis.



I performed a wet-mount of the intestinal contents. What I found was a lot of blood (RBC’s) and a few protozoan parasites. Those are likely to be non-pathogenic organisms (probably Trichomonas spp) that inhabit their intestine, but still interesting.



Here you can see a cross section of the ulcerated area of the intestine. It shows a lot of blood and a loss of mucosal surface (epithelium).



Now we get to the interesting part. This is a photomicrograph of the sloughed tissue and other material in the intestinal lumen (middle area). What I found were ameba like structures that later presumptively identified by an infectious disease specialist as Entamoeba invadins.



Here is the same organism in the liver, 30% of which was necrotic (dead).



This particular organism appears to devastate the normally very disease resistant Crested Gecko (but doesn’t appear to have the same affect on other Rhac spp. based on lack of reports of affected gecko). Other breeders have relayed to me similar circumstances where Crested have died, so this organism is within the captive community.

Signs & Symptoms
• Rapid weight loss
• Lethargy
• Swollen Vent (late stage)
• This is contagious though contact with the feces of ailing geckos

Treatment
• Highly susceptible to Flagyl (Metronidazole)
• 250mg/kg for 3 treatments is probably enough
• You must keep the cage clean and bleached during treatment to prevent re-infection.
• You should also treat all other geckos that have had any contact with the affected one. Treating the entire colony (could easily done by medicating their food) may be needed as a precaution if food/water dishes and cages are moved from cage to cage.

Take home message: If noticed early on, this is an easy and highly treatable disease!!!

There are other causes of weight loss (like intestinal blockage), but amebiasis should be part of the treatment plan straight away - if you want the best chance to save your ailing gecko.

Feel free to comment and thanks for the long read (JFYI - I'm a reasearch scientist by profession),
-----
-Randy May
www.neoscales.com
Email Me

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